Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

ABSTRACT

According to an illustrative embodiment, an image display method is provided. The method includes detecting a position of a user, detecting a position of a physical object, and defining a non-display area of a display based on the position of the user and the position of the physical object.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/467,379 filed May 9, 2012, which claims thebenefit of Japanese Priority Patent Application JP 2011-124909 filed inthe Japanese Patent Office on Jun. 3, 2011, the entire contents of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus,an information processing method, and a program, and more particularly,to an information processing apparatus, an information processingmethod, and a program which can be suitably used in a case where aphysical object can be placed on a display disposed on a table surface.

BACKGROUND

FIGS. 1A and 1B show an example of a computer called a table top type.The table-top computer 10 is used, for example, in a hotel counter andthe like and a display 11 thereof is disposed on a table surface of thecounter or the like.

When a user uses the table-top computer 10, the user is located on aside surface of the display 11 and watches a variety of information(display objects A, B, and C in this example) displayed on the display11 obliquely from the upside as shown in FIG. 1A.

The display 11 of the table-top computer 10 is disposed on the tablesurface of the counter or the like and a physical object (an actualobject such as a handbag, a book, and a cup) can be placed thereon.

However, when a physical object is placed on the display 11, the displayobjects displayed thereon at that time is not visible by the user andthus a certain countermeasure is necessary.

For example, US 2008/0231611 discloses that the position of a physicalobject placed on a display is specified by imaging the display from theupside thereof and a display position of a display object in the displayis changed to avoid the position just below the physical object.

SUMMARY

However, only by simply changing the display position of the displayobject to avoid the position just below the physical object, a displayobject B may move to the back of the physical object as viewed from theuser, for example, as shown in FIG. 2. In this case, the user may notwatch the display object B depending on the height (the length in thedirection perpendicular to the display) of the physical object.

It is therefore desirable to cause a display object to move so as toeasily watch the display object when a physical object is placed on adisplay.

Accordingly, the embodiments of the present disclosure are provided.According to an illustrative embodiment, an image display method isprovided. The method includes detecting a position of a user, detectinga position of a physical object, and defining a non-display area of adisplay based on the position of the user and the position of thephysical object.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating an example of a table-topcomputer.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state where a display object is madeto move from the position just below a physical object placed on adisplay.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state where a display object is madeto move so as to avoid the physical object placed on the displayaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of aninformation processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a non-display area setting method.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a non-display area setting method.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a non-display area setting method.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view illustrating the configuration of a displayhaving an imaging unit built therein.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a display position changing process.

FIGS. 10A to 10C are diagrams illustrating a movement trace of a displayobject.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a computer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, a best mode (hereinafter, referred to as an embodiment) forputting the present disclosure into practice will be described in detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

1. Embodiment Schematic Operation of Information Processing Apparatus

In an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a physical object can be placed on a displaydisposed on a table surface, like a desk-top computer shown in FIGS. 1Aand 1B.

FIG. 3 shows a state where a display object is made to move to avoid aphysical object placed on a display by the information processingapparatus according to the embodiment.

In the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment, itis detected that a physical object is placed on the display on the basisof an image signal from an imaging unit built in the display. When aphysical object is placed on the display, as shown in the drawing, anon-display area having an end of the display on the user side andtangent lines LL and LR to the physical object is set and the displayposition of a display object displayed in the picture of the displaymoves to an area (hereinafter, referred to as a display area) other thanthe non-display area. A method of setting the non-display area will bedescribed later. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress difficulty inwatching the display object regardless of the height of the physicalobject placed on the display.

[Configuration of Information Processing Apparatus]

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the information processing apparatusaccording to the embodiment. The information processing apparatus 20includes an operation input unit 21, a display signal generating unit22, an image signal acquiring unit 23, a physical object detecting unit24, a user sensing unit 25, a non-display area setting unit 26, adisplay signal output unit 27, and a display 30 having an imaging unitbuilt therein.

The operation input unit 21 receives an operation input from a user andoutputs an operation signal corresponding thereto to the display signalgenerating unit 22. The display signal generating unit 22 generates adisplay signal for displaying a picture including a display object andthe like on the display 30 having an imaging unit built therein on thebasis of the operation signal corresponding to the user's operation andsupplies the generated display signal to the display signal output unit27. The display signal generating unit 22 updates the display signal soas not to locate the display object in the non-display area on the basisof the position information of the non-display area supplied from thenon-display area setting unit 26 and supplies the updated display signalto the display signal output unit 27.

The image signal acquiring unit 23 acquires an image signal from thedisplay 30 having an imaging unit built therein (hereinafter, alsosimply referred to as a display 30) and outputs the acquired imagesignal to the physical object detecting unit 24. The physical objectdetecting unit 24 detects a closed curve C representing the profile ofthe physical object placed on the display 30 on the basis of the imagesignal from the display 30.

The user sensing unit 25 senses the side on which the user is locatedout of four sides surrounding the display 30 and notifies thenon-display area setting unit 26 of the sensed side. For example, aninfrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and a human heat radiation sensorcan be used as the user sensing unit 25. Alternatively, the position ofthe user may be sensed by urging the user to place the palm on thedisplay 30 and detecting the profile of the palm on the basis of theimage signal thereof.

The non-display area setting unit 26 sets a non-display area on thebasis of the closed curve C representing the profile of the physicalobject placed on the display 30 and the position of the user andnotifies the display signal generating unit 22 of the positioninformation of the set non-display area.

A method of setting a non-display area will be described below.Hereinafter, four vertexes of the display 30 are defined as p0(0, 0),p1(0, X), p2(X, Y), p3(0, Y).

FIG. 5 shows a case where the user is located on the side of p0 and p1.In this case, the straight line L_(L) passes through the vertex p0 andthus is expressed by Expression (1).

Straight line L _(L) : y−0=a(x−0)  (1)

A function F(x, y) expressed by Expression (2) is defined on the basisof Expression (1).

FunctionF(x,y)=y−0−a(x−0)  (2)

The values of the function F(x, y) for all points c(x_(c), y_(c)) in theexisting closed curve C are calculated, parameter a is made to increasein the positive direction from 0, and parameter a when the value of thefunction F(x, y) is first 0 is employed as the slope of the straightline L_(L).

The straight line LR is determined similarly. That is, the straight lineLR passes through the vertex p1 and thus is expressed by Expression (3).

Straight line LR: y−0=a(x−X)  (3)

A function F(x, y) expressed by Expression (4) is defined on the basisof Expression (3).

FunctionF(x,y)=y−0−a(x−X)  (4)

The values of the function F(x, y) for all points c(xc, yc) in theexisting closed curve C are calculated, parameter a is made to decreasein the negative direction from 0, and parameter a when the value of thefunction F(x, y) is first 0 is employed as the slope of the straightline LR.

FIG. 6 shows a case where the user is located on the side of p1 and p2.In this case, the straight line LL passes through the vertex p1 and thusis expressed by Expression (5).

Straight line LL: y−0=a(x−X)  (5)

A function F(x, y) expressed by Expression (6) is defined on the basisof Expression (5).

Function F(x,y)=y−0−a(x−X)  (6)

The values of the function F(x, y) for all points c (x_(c), y_(c)) inthe existing closed curve C, parameter a is made to increase toward 0from the negative infinity, and parameter a when the value of thefunction F(x, y) is first 0 is employed as the slope of the straightline L_(L).

The straight line L_(R) is determined similarly. That is, the straightline L_(R) passes through the vertex p2 and thus is expressed byExpression (7).

Straight line L _(R) : y−Y=a(x−X)  (7)

A function F(x, y) expressed by Expression (8) is defined on the basisof Expression (7).

Function F(x, y)=y−Y−a(x−X)  (8)

The values of the function F(x, y) for all points c(x_(c), y_(c)) in theexisting closed curve C are calculated, parameter a is made to decreasetoward 0 from the positive infinity, and parameter a when the value ofthe function F(x, y) is first 0 is employed as the slope of the straightline L_(R).

When the user is located on the side of p2 and p3 and when the user islocated on the side of p3 and p0, the straight lines L_(L) and L_(R) aredetermined similarly.

The area on the user side with the determined straight lines L_(L) andL_(R) as a boundary is set as the display area and the other area is setas the non-display area. A substantially triangular area which mayappear between the display area and the closed curve C of the physicalobject may be set as the display area.

FIG. 7 shows a case where plural physical objects are placed on thedisplay 30. In this case, the non-display area is determined for eachphysical object and the logical sum thereof is set as the non-displayarea as a whole.

In this embodiment, the area on the user side with the straight linesL_(L) and L_(R) as a boundary is set as the display area. On thecontrary, the area on the user side with the straight lines L_(L) andL_(R) as a boundary may be changed to the non-display area. This changecan be used in the step of concealing information of users from theusers, for example, when playing cards, mah-jongg, and the like by theuse of the information processing apparatus 20.

FIG. 4 will be referred to again. The display signal output unit 27supplies the display signal input from the display signal generatingunit 22 to the display 30. The display 30 having an imaging unit builttherein, which is disposed on the surface of a table or a counterdisplays a picture corresponding to the display signal supplied from thedisplay signal output unit 27. The display 30 having an imaging unitbuilt therein includes an imaging unit 50 therein. The imaging unit 50images the physical object placed on the display 30 from the insideunder the control of the image signal acquiring unit 23 and outputs animage signal, which is obtained as a result and represents the shape ofthe bottom surface (the surface in contact with the display 30) of thephysical object, to the image signal acquiring unit 23.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view illustrating the configuration of the display30 having an imaging unit built therein.

In the display 30 having an imaging unit built therein, a backlight 31,a polarizing filter 32-1, a glass substrate 33-1, a transparentelectrode 34-1, an alignment film 35-1, a liquid crystal 36, analignment film 35-2, a transparent electrode 34-2, a color filter 37, aglass substrate 33-2, and a polarizing filter 32-2 are stackedsequentially from the inside thereof. An imaging unit 50 capturing animage using near-infrared light is disposed inside the glass substrates33-1 and 33-2. A touch panel or the like sensing the user's operationinput may be additionally stacked on the polarizing filter 32-2.

That is, the display 30 having an imaging unit built therein has astructure in which the imaging unit 50 is built in the generalconfiguration of a liquid crystal display. Here, it is assumed that thebacklight 31 emits near-infrared light (800 to 900 nm), which is appliedto the bottom surface of the physical object to enable the imaging unit50 to receive the reflected, along with visible light for displaying apicture.

The imaging unit 50 includes an IR filter 51 transmitting onlynear-infrared light and a light-receiving portion 52 receiving thenear-infrared light and converting the received near-infrared light intoan image signal. The light-receiving portion 52 can employ, for example,a system using photocurrent generated in an active layer or a systemusing accumulation of electric charges generated due to absorption oflight. Since the imaging units 50 are two-dimensionally and periodicallyarranged to correspond to the respective pixels to be displayed or togroups each including a predetermined number of pixels, image signalsoutput from all the imaging units 50 represent the bottom surface of theplaced physical object.

[Actions]

A display position changing process in the information processingapparatus 20 will be described below. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustratingthe display position changing process.

In step S1, the display signal generating unit 22 generates a displaysignal for displaying a picture including a display object and the likeon the display 30 having an imaging unit built therein on the basis ofthe operation signal corresponding to the user's operation and suppliesthe generated display signal to the display signal output unit 27.

In step S2, the display signal output unit 27 supplies the displaysignal input from the display signal generating unit 22 to the display30 having an imaging unit built therein. The display 30 having animaging unit built therein displays a picture corresponding to thedisplay signal supplied from the display signal output unit 27.

In step S3, the image signal acquiring unit 23 acquires an image signalfrom the display 30 having an imaging unit built therein and outputs theacquired image signal to the physical object detecting unit 24. In stepS4, the physical object detecting unit 24 determines whether a physicalobject is placed on the display 30 on the basis of the image signal fromthe display 30. When it is determined that a physical object is notplaced on the display, the flow of processes is returned to step S3 andthe processes subsequent thereto are repeated.

When it is determined in step S4 that a physical object is placed on thedisplay 30, the flow of processes goes to step S5. In step S5, thephysical object detecting unit 24 specifies the position of the physicalobject placed on the display on the basis of the image signal andnotifies the non-display area setting unit 26 of a closed curve Crepresenting the profile of the physical object.

In step S6, the user sensing unit 25 senses the side on which the useris located out of four sides surrounding the display 30 and notifies thenon-display area setting unit 26 of the sensed side. In step S7, thenon-display area setting unit 26 sets a non-display area on the basis ofthe closed curve representing the profile of the physical object placedon the display 30 and the position of the user and notifies the displaysignal generating unit 22 of the position information of the non-displayarea.

In step S8, the display signal generating unit 22 updates the displaysignal so as not to locate the display object in the non-display area onthe basis of the position information of the non-display area notifiedfrom the non-display area setting unit 26 and supplies the updateddisplay signal to the display signal output unit 27. Thereafter, theflow of processes is returned to step S2 and the processes subsequentthereto are repeated. Hitherto, the display position changing processhas been described.

According to the display position changing process, even when a physicalobject is placed on the display 30 having an imaging unit built therein,it is possible to suppress difficulty in watching a display object in apicture regardless of the height.

When changing the display position of the display object, the displayposition may be instantaneously changed or the moving trace of thedisplay object may be visible. The moving trace may be a linear trace ora moving trace making a detour of the physical object, for example, asshown in FIGS. 10A to 10C.

The above-mentioned flow of processes may be carried out by hardware orby software. When the flow of processes is carried out by software, aprogram constituting the software is installed in a computer mounted ondedicated hardware or a general-purpose personal computer which canperform various functions by installing various programs from a programrecording medium.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of acomputer executing the flow of processes through the use of the program.

In the computer 100, a central processing unit (CPU) 101, a read onlymemory (ROM) 102, and a random access memory (RAM) 103 are connected toeach other via a bus 104.

An input and output interface 105 is further connected to the bus 104.The input and output interface 105 is connected to an input unit 106including a keyboard, a mouse, and a microphone, an output unit 107including a display and a speaker, a storage unit 108 including a harddisk or a nonvolatile memory, a communication unit 109 including anetwork interface, and a drive 210 driving a removable medium 211 suchas a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and asemiconductor memory.

In the computer 100 having the above-mentioned configuration, the CPU101 performs the above-mentioned flow of processes, for example, byloading the program stored in the storage unit 108 to the RAM 103 viathe input and output interface 105 and the bus 104 and executing theloaded program.

The program executed by the computer may be a program performing theflow of processes in time series in the order described in the presentdisclosure or may be a program performing the flow of processes inparallel or at a demanded time such as a called time.

The program may be processed by a single computer or may be distributedand processed by plural computers. The program may be transmitted to aremote computer and may be executed thereby.

Particular embodiments of the present disclosure include the following.

(1) An image display method including: detecting a position of a user;detecting a position of a physical object; and defining a non-displayarea of a display based on the position of the user and the position ofthe physical object.

(2) The method according to (1), further including modifying an image tobe displayed on the display to move a display object outside thenon-display area.

(3) The method according to (1) or (2), further including modifying animage to be displayed on the display to move a display object into thenon-display area.

(4) The method according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein detecting thephysical object includes detecting a closed curve representing thephysical object.

(5) The method according to (4), wherein the non-display area is definedon the basis of the closed curve.

(6) The method according to any one (1) to (5), wherein the non-displayarea is defined according to two lines which partition a surface of thedisplay.

(7) The method according to any one of (1) to (6), wherein defining anon-display area includes defining a non-display area based onrespective positions of two or more physical objects and the position ofthe user, and wherein the non-display area is determined by determiningrespective non-display areas for the physical objects and generating alogical sum of the respective non-display areas.

(8) The method according to any one of (1) to (7), wherein detecting thephysical object comprises using an imaging unit.

(9) The method according to (8), wherein the imaging unit is anear-infrared imaging unit.

(10) The method according to any one of (1) to (9), wherein detectingthe position of the user includes at least one of using an infraredsensor, using an ultrasonic sensor, using a human heat radiation sensor,and detecting a profile of the user's palm.

(11) An image display apparatus including a processing circuit fordetecting a position of a user, detecting a position of a physicalobject, and defining a non-display area of a display based on theposition of the user and the position of the physical object.

(12) The apparatus according to (11), wherein the display is integral tothe apparatus.

(13) The apparatus according to (11) or (12), further including animaging unit for detecting the physical object.

(14) The apparatus according to (13), wherein the imaging unit is anear-infrared imaging unit.

(15) The apparatus according to (13) or (14), wherein the displayincludes a backlight and a liquid crystal, and the imaging unit ispositioned between the backlight and the liquid crystal.

(16) The apparatus according to any one of (11) to (16), wherein animage to be displayed on the display is modified to move a displayobject outside the non-display area.

(17) The apparatus according to (16), wherein the display object ismoved gradually and a trace of the display object's movement isdisplayed.

(18) The apparatus according to any one of (11) to (17), wherein animage to be displayed on the display is modified to move a displayobject into the non-display area.

(19) An image display apparatus including: means for detecting aposition of a user; means for detecting a position of a physical object;and means for defining a non-display area of a display based on theposition of the user and the position of the physical object.

(20) A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon acomputer-readable program for implementing an image display methodincluding: detecting a position of a user; detecting a position of aphysical object; and defining a non-display area of a display based onthe position of the user and the position of the physical object.

The present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentionedembodiments, but may be modified in various forms without departing fromthe concept of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus, comprising:circuitry configured to: control a display object on a display screen;detect first position information of a first object on the displayscreen; detect second position information of a part of a user; and movea position of the display object based on a relation between the firstposition information of the first object and the second positioninformation of the part of the user, on the display screen.
 2. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thedisplay screen is integral to the information processing apparatus. 3.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising an imaging unit configured to detect the first object on thedisplay screen.
 4. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 3, wherein the imaging unit is a near-infrared imaging unit. 5.The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein thedisplay screen further comprises a backlight and a liquid crystal, andthe imaging unit is positioned between the backlight and the liquidcrystal.
 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the circuitry is further configured to define a non-display areaof the display screen, wherein an image to be displayed on the displayscreen is modified to move the display object outside the non-displayarea.
 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6,wherein the display object is moved gradually and a trace of themovement of the display object is displayed on the display screen,wherein the trace of the movement of the display object makes a detourof the first object.
 8. The information processing apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to define anon-display area of the display screen, wherein an image to be displayedon the display screen is modified to move the display object into thenon-display area.
 9. An information processing method, comprising: in aninformation processing apparatus: controlling a display object on adisplay screen; detecting first position information of a first objecton the display screen; detecting second position information of a partof a user; and moving a position of the display object based on arelation between the first position information of the first object andthe second position information of the part of the user, on the displayscreen.
 10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having storedthereon, computer-readable instructions for causing a computer toexecute operations, comprising: controlling a display object on adisplay screen; detecting first position information of a first objecton the display screen; detecting second position information of a partof a user; and moving a position of the display object based on arelation between the first position information of the first object andthe second position information of the part of the user, on the displayscreen.